The _Meander_, though of forty-four guns, was but a second-rate frigate; she had, however, a picked crew, whom the fame of her captain had induced to join; she was fitted with special boats for river service, as she was intended to act against the pirate communities. I need not dwell on the details of this voyage, but I must introduce an anecdote related by Sir Hugh Low of his great chief. ‘No circumstances, however unexpected, flurried him.... I was once a passenger with him in a large man-of-war. His cabin was on the port side of the vessel, and he was sitting in an arm-chair which leant against the bulkhead. I was stretched on a locker on the opposite side of the cabin, and there being a fresh breeze the ship was heeling over to starboard, when we felt a sudden increase in the lurch, which threw me headlong against the lee bulkhead, the Rajah’s chair being tilted up so that his feet were in the air. I attempted to crawl towards the door, when the Rajah, who had been reading, asked me where I was going. I said, “I am going to see what is the matter; the vessel is capsizing.” He replied, “You have nothing to do with it; you are only a passenger. Stay where you are.” The danger was averted by the promptness of the carpenter, who with one stroke of his sharp axe severed the main brace, and the vessel immediately righted itself.’ We were all glad to reach Singapore, for although the officers did their utmost to make us comfortable, it was not possible that much success could attend their efforts. I daresay they were as pleased to see us land as we were to find ourselves on shore. One thing I may mention, however; the gun-room officers pressed me to remain with them instead of facing the expense and discomforts of a Singapore hotel; but I could not avail myself of their kindness as I had my secretary’s duties to perform. About three weeks after our arrival, the surveyor, the late Mr Scott, afterwards Sir John Scott, and Captain Hoskins, harbour-master, were sent ahead to prepare the necessary buildings for the officers that were to follow. This was our first mistake. Neither of these gentlemen knew anything about tropical countries, nor even the language of Borneo, and fixed the site of the settlement on a grassy plain, that turned into a swamp as soon as the rainy season commenced. Had the Lieutenant-Governor, Mr Napier, been sent ahead, or had Mr Low (now Sir Hugh Low), the Colonial Secretary, accompanied the advance party, their special knowledge of the Tropics would have saved us the consequences of this disastrous error. After a long and apparently unnecessary delay of three months and a half at Singapore, we sailed in the _Meander_ for Sarawak. Before our departure, however, news arrived that Her Majesty had been pleased to name Mr Brooke a K.C.B., and he was duly installed before we left that British settlement.